We couldn’t say it ten years ago, but nowadays, there are so many great conferences to choose from. God is raising up amazing conferences on church life, worship, spiritual formation, preaching, the Christian journey, mission, and on and on. But though I will attend and be a part of several conferences over the next twelve months, one, I believe, stands out. It stands out because I’ve witnessed what it does to people for several years now. I’m talking about the Liberate Conference.
What is it About?
The Liberate Conference is dedicated, each and every year, to championing how the message of the gospel impacts everything. Some conferences have general themes that often feel loosely tied together by common words and phrases. This conference is laser-beam-focused on how the good news for desperate sinners like you and me teases itself out in every arena of life. This is a conference for the burned out and tired. It’s a conference for people whose life and ministry feels weighed and found wanting. It’s one of the few (maybe only) conferences where you don’t walk away feeling more burdened with all the things you need to do to right the ship, but rather resting and restored in the fact that Jesus already did it.
This year’s theme is “It is Finished.” All aspects of the conference are dedicated to exploring how Christ’s finished work on our behalf sets us free from all kinds of tangible, enslaving burdens.
Who’s Speaking?
Tullian Tchividjian
Steve Brown
Elyse Fitzpatrick
Eric Metaxas
Paul Tripp
Derwin Gray
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Scotty Smith
David Zahl
Justin Holcomb
Jessica Thompson…and more (including me)
What Am I Doing There?
1. I’m leading music throughout the conference. It was the highlight of my year last February to lead singing for a packed house full of people desperately shouting their need for Jesus. Our musicians and I (including my partners in crime: Julie Anne Vargas, Chelsea Chen, Matt Calderin and Jeff Adkins) will pull out all the stops with our own unique pipe-rock sound. 🙂
2. I’m speaking on liberating worship. I will be leading an hour-long breakout at the pastors’ pre-conference on Thursday (2/19), at 2pm. I will be sketching what I think are the most important aspects of worship as it relates to the gospel of the finished work of Jesus. I’ll talk about everything from service-structure and song-selection to how we actually pastor people in the gospel through our planning and worship leadership.
3. We’ll be releasing our third EP, “Come and Make Us Free,” with Coral Ridge Music. Every conference attendee gets a FREE ALBUM in their conference pack. It will include six tracks of gospel-soaked originals, including our confession song, “Come and Make Us Free,” and our reworked versions of a few hymns. (If you’re only noticing that we have one EP so far, that’s because we’re releasing another one in November.)
The Deets
Feb 19-22, 2015
Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church)
It’s $80 for a single ticket and $65 for a group of 5+, if you register before 9/30.
(From there, the prices go up!)
